A bare AMR moves itself. It doesn't move your material. The attachment is what turns a mobile platform into a machine that does work — and it's where most AMR projects meet the parts of the plant that already exist: the end-of-line conveyor, the P&D stand, the cart your operators already load.
At HESCO we help customers spec material handling automation alongside the rest of their controls architecture, and attachment selection generates more late-stage surprises than the robot itself.
The short version: An AMR's rated capacity includes the attachment, so size the robot against payload plus attachment mass. Lock the robot model before the attachment is designed, because power, signal and safety interfaces differ across the OTTO lineup. Match conveyor attachments to the height of your existing equipment and treat any attachment—especially a manipulator—as part of the safety case.
Before you spec any of them: if pallets sit on the ground at any point in the workflow, a forked AMR may remove the attachment question entirely. OTTO Lifter picks pallets from floor level without an attachment — a simpler engineering path than putting a lift on a flatbed.
This is the detail that most often gets missed at quote stage. Every OTTO spec sheet states maximum capacity as inclusive: the rated figure covers payload and attachment together, and on the OTTO 100 it explicitly includes the cart. So a 1,200 kg AMR does not carry 1,200 kg of product.
The OTTO 600 is rated at 600 kg total, but with a staging cart the usable payload is up to 420 kg. On the OTTO 100, rated at 150 kg, the staging cart figure is also up to 150 kg — so the arithmetic differs by attachment and needs checking per configuration.
The practical rule: size the robot against payload plus attachment mass, not payload alone. If you're near the limit, that difference decides whether you're buying an OTTO 600 or an OTTO 1200 — much cheaper to discover during selection than during commissioning.
An attachment that only rides on the robot is a shelf. One that does work needs power, a control path and a safety path — and those interfaces differ substantially across the lineup.
| Interface | OTTO 100 | OTTO 600 / 1200 | OTTO 1500 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Power | 26.4 VDC, 12 A unregulated | 24 VDC 1 A reg.; 48 VDC 3 × 16 A | 24 VDC 10 A reg.; 52.8 VDC 50 A |
| Signal | Ethernet, USB 3.0, RS-232 | Ethernet, USB, CAN bus, GPIO | Ethernet, USB 3.1, HDMI, CAN, 5 GPIO |
| Safety | 2× E-Stop ext., 8× digital I/O, 2× dry contact relays | Dual-channel E-Stop breakout, 2 safety-rated GPIO | Dual-channel E-Stop breakout, 2 safety GPIO, fault line |
The OTTO 1500 offers 50 A of unregulated power at 52.8 V and a CAN bus; the OTTO 100 offers 12 A at 26.4 V and RS-232. An actuated attachment designed against the 1500 won't port down without rework, and a power-hungry attachment may not be viable on the 100 at all.
The sequencing point: lock the robot model before an attachment is designed or quoted, not after. This is the single most common source of rework we see in AMR projects.
Nord Modules' conveyor attachments for the OTTO 1500 illustrate what's involved: a wireless handshake between attachment and loading station to synchronize handover, an optical sensor verifying position, automatic payload centering, a mechanical stop preventing slippage in transit, and run-through docking from either side. There's also an optional height adaptor covering roller heights from 478 mm to 825 mm to match existing factory conveyor.
That last one is the kind of spec that decides a project. Your existing conveyor sits at a fixed height, and the attachment has to meet it.
Under ANSI/RIA R15.08, an AMR with passive or active attachments is a Type B industrial mobile robot. Add a manipulator and it becomes Type C, which pulls R15.06 into scope for the arm — a materially larger safety project, worth scoping before the capital request.
Short of that, the attachment still belongs in the risk assessment. It changes the machine's footprint, its center of mass, and what it can reach — none of which the robot's own certification accounts for.
Four questions resolve most of it: What is the robot handing off to — a person, a conveyor, a stand, or the floor? What does the payload plus attachment weigh? Does the attachment need power and signal the chosen model can supply? And at what height does the existing equipment sit?
Answer those before the robot is ordered and attachment selection is routine. Answer them afterward and it's a change order.
There are four standard categories: staging carts for person-to-person workflows such as lineside delivery and WIP transport; conveyors for automatic transfer to and from existing conveyor, in standard 40 in and 48 in sizes (on the OTTO 1500, the 1,900 kg rating includes the attachment, so usable pallet weight is lower); lifts for pick-up and drop-off stands and racks; and custom tooling for anything standard attachments don't fit.
On OTTO's spec sheets, yes. Rated capacity covers payload and attachment together, and on the OTTO 100 it also includes the cart. For example, the OTTO 600 is rated at 600 kg, but with a staging cart its usable payload is up to 420 kg. Size the robot against payload plus attachment mass, not payload alone.
The robot model. Power, signal and safety interfaces differ across the lineup: the OTTO 100 supplies 26.4 VDC at 12 A with RS-232, while the OTTO 1500 supplies 52.8 V at 50 A with CAN bus. An attachment designed for one model may not work on another without rework.
It has to be built to meet your conveyor's fixed roller height. As one example, Nord Modules offers an optional height adaptor for its OTTO 1500 conveyor attachments covering roller heights from 478 mm to 825 mm. Measure every transfer point before the attachment is quoted.
Yes. Under ANSI/A3 R15.08, an AMR with passive or active attachments is a Type B industrial mobile robot. Adding a manipulator makes it Type C, which brings R15.06 into scope for the arm. Any attachment also belongs in the site risk assessment, because it changes the machine's footprint, center of mass and reach.
When pallets sit on the floor at any point in the workflow. A forked AMR such as the OTTO Lifter picks pallets from floor level without an attachment, which is a simpler engineering path than putting a lift on a flatbed robot.
Want help matching attachments to your workflows? The HESCO team can work through payload budgets, interface requirements and integration with your existing conveyor and controls. Get in touch at hesconet.com/contact-us.